SF Salsa Rueda Festival Begins Today

Check out this lineup! Roberto Borrell, Susana Arenas and 27 other instructors. How does all that fit into just four days?

And then there's the music. It's been at least five years since the West Coast has heard from Manolín, el Médico de la Salsa, the first band I ever saw in Cuba and the one that caused me to go permanently insane. Manolín plays Saturday night, backed by Timbalive, who blew everyone away last year. Their leader, Leo García, brother of Cokey García (ex-Opus 13), was the guy Van Van picked to sub for Samuel on their last tour. I guess that pretty much establishes his credentials. Timbalive has three great albums , the second of which, From Miami a La Habana, features none other than Melón Lewis on piano.

On Sunday night, Timbalive plays their own show. Bay Area master sonero Fito Reinoso plays Saturday afternoon. Rumbaché, with their awe-inspiring arsenal of improvisable efectos, plays Friday night. You can hear Carlos Caro , the subject of the soon-to-be-released Beyond Salsa Bongó, on Thursday, which features Bomberas de la Bahía , The Bay Area Rumba All-Stars, and DJ Waltdigz, who also appears on Saturday. Look - I'm a musician so I hate the whole idea of DJs, but Walt is the exception that proves the rule. Every time I hear him, he plays about 20 great new songs that I, cloistered in my little studio writing books, should know by heart by now. Recorded music may be killing live music, but at least with Walt you can die happy.

There are also no less than 36 dance performances from troupes who have come from as far away as Japan, Mexico City, Venezuela, Canada and the East Coast. See you there! [Kevin Moore]

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Thursday, 09 February 2012, 04:26 AM

UPDATED: Two new shows added on 2-21 & 2-23 - click here for details.

Por Fin! Los Hermanos Arango are finally in the United States and will play at Berklee School of Music a week from today, Wednesday, Feb. 22.

There are also encouraging signs that they may play a show in Chicago.

Their visas are good until July so if you ideas for venues, please write in.

Click "continue reading La última" for a larger image of the poster.

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Sunday, 05 February 2012, 07:17 AM

Legendary NG La Banda bassist Feliciano Arango (winner of the timba.com readers' poll in that category) and his co-author, bassist Cherina Mastrantones, have finished their second book (first book here). This one has all the best NG tracks transcribed all the way through and joins Standing in the Shadows of Motown as one of the best bass books every written. I hope to join that list in about a month with a book on Alain Pérez, but more on that laterl

As someone who has spent far too much time transcribing Cuban basslines, I'm knocked out by the choice of material and the quality of the notation to say nothing of the subject. I rank Arango among the four most creative and inspired tumbao creators - the other three being Humberto Perera, Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez and Alain Pérez. I've got Alain covered - with four books plus audio and video coming soon (also Melón video), and Rob Holland keeps threatening to write a book on Humberto, who's also covered in Roots of Timba. That leaves Pedro Pablo. We only have this. Hopefully Rebambaramba, or someone else, will bring Pedro on tour soon.

Meanwhile, Arango's current group, Los Hermanos Arango, will be "in residence" at Berklee School of Music for 10 days in late February and there are encouraging signs that they may play elsewhere (Chicago perhaps). Their visas are good until July, so if you have any suggested venues, please write in. [Kevin Moore]

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Sunday, 08 January 2012, 09:16 PM

Beyond Salsa for Ensemble -- all 350 pages and 464 audio files of it -- will be out later this week - click here for a preview with audio excerpts. Next up: Beyond Salsa Bass with Alain Pérez, then Beyond Salsa Bongó with Carlos Caro. Stay tuned. [Kevin Moore]